Favours or Frameworks? Why We Need Both Trust and Transparency in How We Work
In some organizations, decisions happen over coffee, agreements are sealed with a handshake, and favours flow more freely than formal processes. This can foster warmth, speed, and camaraderie—a welcome alternative to bureaucracy. But when relationships replace records entirely, we risk losing more than just paperwork.
I understand the resistance to bureaucracy. No one wants to be buried in forms, contracts, and checklists that feel like a barrier to action. In smaller teams or values-driven organisations, especially in the voluntary or creative sectors, formality can feel at odds with flexibility and trust.
But governance isn’t about red tape—it’s about clarity, consistency, and accountability.
As Ronald Reagan famously said: “Trust, but verify.” Paperwork shouldn’t replace human connection. But it should support it. Meeting minutes, agreements, and action plans are shared anchors—they help ensure we remember what we agreed, uphold our responsibilities, and stay aligned.
Consider what happens when those coffee-room deals are forgotten, or when someone leaves the team. What protects trust then? Without documentation, we risk confusion, inequity, or disputes—not from malice, but from misremembering or misinterpretation.
This matters even more in public services or highstakes environments. The COVID Inquiry, the Post Office Horizon scandal, the contaminated blood tragedy—all reveal what can go wrong when decisions go undocumented, when accountability is avoided, or when loyalty overrides learning.
In those cases, the absence of records didn’t just hinder operations—it hurt people.
So how do we strike a balance?
For relational cultures, we can keep things human—but still put agreements in writing as a sign of mutual respect, not mistrust.
For process-driven environments, we can simplify documentation to make it accessible and meaningful, not performative.
For the public interest, we must always ensure transparency, not just internally but to those we serve.
In short, favours can build goodwill—but frameworks safeguard fairness.
Let’s not let our desire to “just be nice” become a reason to avoid responsibility. Clear documentation isn’t bureaucracy for its own sake—it’s an expression of care, professionalism, and commitment to doing right by each other.
Trust is vital—but trust thrives best when supported by transparency.